What’s the Best Content Recommendation and Related Links Plugin for WordPress?

I gave a lightning talk at the San Francisco WordPress meet-up in June that looks at the available related links plugins and services for WordPress blogs, stressing why the spots at the end and in the body of posts is so powerful and necessary for sites in the time of social sharing.

I talked about the pros and cons of internal plugins like YARPP and MicroKids (now called Related Posts for WordPress) and discussed external services like nRelate, LinkWithin, Taboola, Outbrain and, yes, Contextly. It’s not a full-on sales pitch as Contextly’s not right for every site.

I talk about a few considerations:

  1. Fully automatic vs. editorial control
  2. Related Content vs. Interesting/Popular Content
  3. Advertising Content Marketing links that take visitors off your site.

For the answers, check it the video below and I’ll put up the slides soon.

The short answer: if you don’t have many visitors, YARPP is fine.

If you want any editorial control over that section, you can use Contextly or Related Posts for WordPress. If you want automatic internal links, there’s Contextly (yes, we do both), nRelate, LinkWithin and Outbrain.

If you think that sending people off your site for a few pennies is a good way to build your audience (hint, I think that’s an awful idea), then look to Outbrain, as it’s the only one of those that rejects the worst of the worst advertisers. Both Taboola and nRelate will include content that can be deeply embarrassing to your brand.

Content marketers and companies looking to build an audience, get people to subscribe an email list, or get people to sign-up for a beta should take a close look at Contextly, which is the only plugin that has an in-house advertising feature (It’s pretty cool and powerful).

And big thanks to Exygy, which made and posted the video from the talk.

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